The present invention relates to improvements in mechanisms for releasing a removable magazine from a repeating firearm, and particularly to a latch-releasing mechanism which is operable by a hand which is used simultaneously to hold the magazine being removed from the firearm.
Certain firearms include removable magazines which may be loaded with cartridges to permit loading the weapon by removing an empty magazine and inserting a loaded one in its place. For example, Heckler & Koch Models 91 and 93 rifles use such removable magazines. Certain firearms, including the above-mentioned Heckler & Koch Models 91 and 93 rifles, retain such magazines by use of a catch attached to a shaft which extends transversely through the receiver of the firearm at a location forward of the trigger. The shaft is spring-loaded to a position holding the catch in its normal position of engagement with a magazine, the catch itself being located on the left side of the weapon. To release the magazine from the weapon, a protruding end portion of the shaft on the right-hand side must be pushed laterally leftward, moving the catch on the opposite end of the shaft laterally away from the left side of the receiver to release the magazine. A sleeve surrounds the right-hand end of the shaft, extending inwardly through the receiver wall to hold a spring against the interior surface of the opposite wall of the receiver, and includes a stop which limits the movement of the catch.
In the above-mentioned rifles the protruding end or sleeve on the transversely extending catch-carrying shaft is located too far from the normal position of the trigger (right) hand to permit the magazine to be released without moving the trigger hand from its normal position. Exchanging magazines in such weapons, then, becomes normally a two-hand operation, the right hand being used to release an empty magazine and thereafter being returned to its normal position on the grip of the weapon, and the left hand thereafter being used to insert a loaded magazine into the proper location in the receiver.
It is more desirable to have a latch mechanism which permits the magazine catch to be released easily with the hand used to remove the magazine from the weapon. Preferably such a latch mechanism would permit operation by the left hand, leaving the right hand free to hold the stock or grip of the weapon as the left hand removes and replaces the magazine. Left-handed operation of the latch mechanism, however, requires the manually movable portion of the latch mechanism to be located conveniently close to the magazine and to be accessible from the left side of the weapon.
The present invention provides an improved latch operating mechanism which makes one-handed removal and replacement of a magazine possible. According to the present invention a lever is pivotably connected to the axially movable transverse shaft of the magazine latch assembly in such a way that pushing an end of the lever laterally from the left side toward the right side of the weapon moves the transversely extending shaft from right to left of the weapon to disengage the catch, which is located on the left side of the weapon, from the magazine, by moving it the required distance outwardly away from the receiver. That is, by pushing the lever toward the right of the weapon, the shaft is moved toward the left side. The end of the lever on which one can push is located conveniently near the rear of the magazine, on the left side of the weapon, where the left thumb can be used to push the lever toward the right side of the weapon while the left hand is held below the receiver, gripping a downwardly extending portion of the magazine, or in a position to receive the magazine as it drops downward from its normal position within the receiver of the weapon.
According to the present invention a sleeve is placed around the transversely extending shaft and extends through the receiver wall to the outside of the receiver, where a pin secures the sleeve to the shaft. A helical spring surrounds the transverse latch shaft between the interior of the left wall of the receiver and the left end of the sleeve, normally urging the shaft toward the right side of the weapon. A cap extends around the sleeve and the end of the shaft, exterior of the receiver, to limit leftward axial movement of the shaft to the desired amount. Between the receiver walls, one end of a latch mechanism operating lever is pivotably connected to the sleeve. The latch mechanism operating lever according to the present invention extends downwardly from the pivot connection, which is located near the right wall of the receiver, toward a position below the receiver. A fulcrum portion of the lever also extends to a location adjacent the interior surface of the right wall of the receiver, spaced downwardly from the pivot connection of the lever to the sleeve. Pushing the lower end of the lever toward the right forces the fulcrum portion of the lever against the interior surface of the right receiver wall, and by reaction forces the shaft laterally toward the left side of the receiver.
It is therefore a principal objective of the present invention to provide an improved magazine latch operating mechanism for firearms having removable magazines.
It is another improtant objective of the present invention to provide a magazine latch operating mechanism permitting convenient one-handed release and removal of a magazine from a repeating firearm.
It is an important feature of the present invention that a magazine latch mechanism operating lever extends to a location conveniently near a removable magazine to permit the lever to be operated by the thumb of a hand while the magazine is being held by that hand.
It is another important feature of the present invention that it provides a magazine release mechanism which can be installed easily as a modification of a preexisting inconveniently operable latch mechanism.
It is a principal advantage of the present invention that it is operable much more conveniently than the previously existing magazine latch mechanisms of certain firearms to which the present invention's mechanism is applicable.
The foregoing objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.